Do you practice good parenting?

We are constantly bombarded with messages about how important it is to be an effective parent—look at me, I am part of the bombardment, LOL! Advice is all around us in the form of self-help and how to parenting books, newspaper articles, reality tv shows etc., but do we really pay attention? Do we practice the skills we are learning, or do we resort back to old habits that are ineffective?

I have been studying child and adolescent behavior and practicing effective parenting techniques for many years, and I still have to be acutely aware of my interactions with my girls. I have to practice the skills that I know and teach on a daily basis. Only through personal awareness, patience with myself and enhanced self-care do slots I have the ability to stay on top of my game. It is easy to fall back into the same old patterns of manipulation and punishment, which don“t help my daughters, and certainly don“t make me feel good about my parenting.

I want to encourage each of you to practice one effective or positive parenting technique of which you are aware. If you are in a rut and find yourself constantly nagging, and feeling frustrated and without the tools you need to be effective, then leave me a comment here, and I will help you find an effective technique you can start practicing today!

Comments

In spite of having worked as a teacher for over a decade and having studied psychology, I felt uncertain how to maximize my children\'s well-being while fulfilling my own obligations and maintaining my own well-being.

In just two sessions, you gave me much useful general and specific advice on raising two toddlers under challenging circumstances. Being able to put your advice to immediate use has made me feel empowered as a parent. Your advice, along with practice in mindfulness, has made my child-rearing easier and more effective and I believe, in just a few weeks, has made my children more content. Your modeling of effective interaction with young children has provided a framework of effective and compassionate human interaction that I can apply to a wide variety of situations.

I will definitely refer associates, friends, and anyone else who wants to learn more about child psychosocial development to you.